Streams of our Consciousness
by hoshi-ni-onegai
Summary: A series of stream of consciousness drabbles of various RK characters and their reaction toward Kenshin and Kaoru. Ranging from angst to humor and from Kenshin to Enishi. canon storyline and canon pairings
1. Your Name

1Author Notes: Gasp! I wrote something that is less than 9000 words? I'm surprised even now. Well, this is my first drabble that I was compelled to write at 5am. By the way, writing 100 words or less is harder than it looks. This is set near the end of the manga (I hope this isn't a spoiler for anyone), where Kenshin finds Kaoru's dead 'body' and goes off into self inflicted isolation... sigh, enjoy.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**Your Name**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

"Kaoru..."

Your name fell from my lips without the honorific. I had ignored the way you pouted when I persistently called you with it attached. But now that you are gone, I wish I had yelled it at the top of my lungs.

Too many things I wish to have done. Untying your hair ribbon as your lover. Embracing you without an impending departure. Feeling the soft hair behind your neck as I pulled you in for a kiss. To kiss you a hundred times a day -and still wanting more.

My worst regret is not telling you that I...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Yes, I meant to leave it off in the end. Tell me what you think.


	2. In Different Times

Author Notes: The angsty thoughts of one ex-fighter for hire.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**In Different Times**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

I sometimes wonder if it would have been different if I had met her without him there. Would I have fallen in love with her?

From the first day that I was picked up like a stray, I had known that her heart was only for him. And that he had left no room for another man to enter.

My place in her life is as an older-brother and I can't see her as anything beyond a sister I want to protect.

I wonder... would it have been different if I had met Kaoru without her Kenshin at her side?


	3. Never Me

1Author Notes: Forlorn thoughts of a doctor and her one-sided love.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**Never Me**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

A quick tug at his bandages and they're loose. The wounds he endures are never for me... There was a time when he had been hurt to rescue me, but he had done it based on his principles.

I apply ointment to his injuries and wrap them with clean bandages. I am the doctor of the group. I fix the problems they run into physically. I was never here for anything beside my duties. I am only a friend.

He fights for a future. Her future. He was never mine. I was never his.

It was never me.


	4. Stop Hiding

Author Notes: Annoyed musings of one officer of the Tokyo police.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**Stop Hiding**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

That façade of his pisses me off. He's using it to hide what he had done. To hide the instincts that are still within him: to kill instead of letting his enemies live.

He didn't get the title Hitokiri Battousai because he was a clumsy idiot oro-ing his way through revolution. No, he was precise and never hesitated. He wasn't like the simpering fool that he is now, sparing lives for the sake of his "morals."

And that kenjutsu girl can see right through it, but plays along anyways.

He's hiding, and it'll catch up to him one day.


	5. Wall Flower

1Author Notes: The worry of a pupil of his fiery teacher.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**Wall Flower**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

I've taken enough beatings from her bokken to know she has skill and power behind it. The presence of Kenshin disguises that she is one of the strongest swordsman in Tokyo.

Every time she sees a battle raging, she is itching to jump in and fight. But she stands on the sidelines like a delicate flower she's not.

Her will is weakening, her confidence is waning.

The day will come when she will swing her bokken in life and not in practice, and she will have lost faith in it.

His presence in her life will be her death.


	6. Salvation

Author Notes: A lonely younger brother who finally met his savior.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**Salvation**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

No! Not again.

She leapt. She leapt in front of that idiot with a gun. Just like nee-san had, to save that murder.

He can't do anything but stare. Eyes wide, seeing history repeat.

No, not again.

I leap. I leap in front of the idiot with a gun. I throw a punch and she yells at me to not kill.

He appears out of nowhere stops me and tells me nee-san will never smile again. I stop. He thanks me for her life.

In saving her, she saved me. If only she knew -she could have changed my life.


	7. A man that does not exist

1Author Notes: The woeful father who does not know the fated meeting between his daughter and an ex-assassin.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**A man that does not exist**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

After her mother died I raised her the only way I knew. A swordsman.

Discipline. Morals. Righteous conviction.

She is already instilled. I can't reverse it any more.

Her mother would kill me for her calloused hands, sweat dripped brow, and barely kept hair. But love me for her spirit.

I've sealed her fate and doomed her to love a man that does not exist.

A man strong in strength and morals.

A man who wouldn't cage her soul, and instead fall for it because of its rebellion.

She'll never know love because of what I've trained her to become.


	8. His act

1Author Notes: A taciturn Oniwabanshu leader knows the surface is not real.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**His act**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

She stares at me with confused blue eyes. What I say and don't say is a mystery to her.

But what she doesn't know is that her beloved hitokiri and I are more alike than she thinks.

The polite words, the cheerful smiles, gentle gestures; are part of the act.

He is as emotionally sensitive as Okina's bonsai. On appearance, he'll keep things up; maybe even pretend to feel more than he actually does.

He'll do and say things so she doesn't look at him with the same confusion, but beneath it... only he knows.


	9. His glances

1Author Notes: An observant restaurant owner and her wish for a wanderer to grow a pair.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**His glances**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

His eyes dart back to his bowl. Plastered smile and inserts into the conversation reveals he is confident no one caught his glances.

Judging by how Sano and Yahiko fight over the last piece of fish, neither of the two notice nor suspect.

But if Megumi were here, we would share a knowing look.

The fleeting sweep of his eyes down her hair. The way he lingers on her lips as she quips back at the boys.

There is no denying she grabbed his attention and keeping it. If only she knew. And if only he would take action.


	10. She'll break

Author Notes: A spirited ninja who is also in love with a enigmatic older man.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**She'll break**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

If I ever asked her, she would blush, smile, and tell me that there's a comfortable understanding with him.

But I know there would be doubt hidden behind her eyes. Doubt, which she didn't carry before he left her for Kyoto.

I wasn't there to witness it. I've only heard things. From what I understand, she stopped functioning. And I'm afraid she will break if it were to happen again.

I only know that because we're in the same boat. It is the most difficult thing in the world to love someone so much and not have your sentiments returned.


	11. Only in loss

Author Notes: A shy restaurant waiter who one day hopes to grow up and feel the same love the two hero's share.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**Only in loss**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

I look at them now and can't help but admire their strength. The support they give each other and gentle love they share.

His contented smile has more depth to it now than it ever did. Before, even I could see that it was a farce; no one knew that better than she did.

His priorities were straightened out, and he realized what was most important after he had lost it.

Her fake body propped up against the wall, the sword piercing her heart.

His world shattered. And only then did he realize that she was his world.


	12. Instead

Author Notes: What does the teacher of the strongest assassin in Japan hope for his idiot pupil?

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**Instead**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

If only she had been born a decade earlier and stumbled upon him as he swung his sword like an idiot during the revolution.

Her hardheadedness would have been good for him and she wouldn't have hesitated giving him a warranted beating –battousai or not.

Instead of that cold woman who thawed and froze his heart, this one would have melted it and kept it burning.

Her very nature wouldn't have allowed his terse one-word responses and scoffing demeanor.

If they instead had met that snowy night during the revolution, his life would have been a happier one.


	13. Proof

Author Notes: A haircut between lovers.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**Proof**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

I ask him again. He says he's sure.

Sheers in hand, I comb my fingers through his hair.

I lean forward and bury my face in red locks, I cry silently. He can sense it.

I tell him I can't cut it. I know he's only doing it to prove that he is not a wanderer and won't leave me.

Please don't try to prove anything to me.

When he turns, I see the guilt in his eyes –I'm right.

He takes the sheers and reaches behind him. He snips off a long lock of hair.

He smiles. I cry.


End file.
